Process of treating hydrocarbon oils



H. H. @Ui-MER PROCESS OF TREATING HYDROCARBON OILS Filed April 4, 1919 Patented ug. 19, 1924.

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HARRY CULMER, F CHICAGO, ILLINOS.

PROCESS 0F TREATING HYDROCARCBON OILS.

Application filed April 4, 1919. Serial No. 287,445.

Taall 'whom t may concern f Be it known that l, HARRY H. CULMER, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of Chicago, county of Cook, and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes ofvTreating Hydrocarbon Oils, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in process of treatin hydrocarbon oils and refers more particuharly to the treatment of heavy-or viscous petroleum oils, whereby such oils are thinned or reduced in gravity, and materially increased in value. As is Well known in the petroleum industry considerable diicult lis experienced in the transportation of eavy crude petroleum oils such as those from the California petroleum fields, through pipe lines. This results from the fact that these oils are so viscous -and sluggish that they 'do not flow through the line.

pipe lines at ordinary temperature, and

have to he frequently heated and the pipeI line provided with numerous pumping stations in order to force the oil throu h the The prsent invention lessens t ev viscosity of the oil and reduces 'it to such a thin Huid or liquid condition that the oil will readily pass through the pipe lines at all ordinary temperature. At 'the same time, the process converts certain of the heavy into lighter' hydrocarbons, thus increasing the yield of the lighter and more valuable dis` tillates of the oil. The invention is also adapted to thinning the heav'ydfuel oils, for

exam le, for the use of same on war ships, and t e'like, or for use in industrial plants. rl `he -process also frees the oil from water content whether the water is merely mixed i with the oil or in an emulsified condition.

By my process I vdestroy the colloidal solution of. h drocarbons in the oil and asbefore state render them into a thin or -limpid liquid. The increase of light oily contents in, the oil of course renders the 011t more valuable from a refining standpoint. It is also to benoted that after this oil has been treated by my process it retains its thin fluid condition even at relatively low temperatures.

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the apparatus. Fig. 2 is a ontelevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a detail of the nozzle "arrangement for spraying the oil onto the coke.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the

closed retorts 1 and 2 "are mounted in the furnace by means of suitable I-beamsft Awhich f are supported therein by jacks 5. Any number of these retorts may be mounted in the furnace according to the size of the. heatin space and the volume of oil to be treate The heating space 5a is maintained at ahigh temperature by any means such as gas burners or the like. The heatlng gases after passing through the furnace are directed to 4 a stack (not shown) through the-dues 6.

The retorts are filled with coke 7 which is ground to the desired size and loaded into the retorts through their removable .tops 8 or removable bottom plates 9. The heavy viscous oil after being heated to a temperacoke is maintained at a high temperature` and as the oil is sprayed thereon'the lighter fractions are released from the oil and rise into the duct 14 .through a series of small perforations which are inclined upwardly.

v(pipes a are con- Y ture at which itv will flow freely is introllhese lighter fractions after collecting in fr the duct are. directed through the connecting pipes 16 to the pipe-17 through which they are iped to a condenser (not shown).

T e heavy residual material which is left in th retort fills the voids between the small lumps of coke Vand is cleaned at' intervals when the voidsinl the retorts become completelyfilled. It is understood that the oil supply pipe and the connecting line to the condensers are lagged to prevent loss of heat through radiation.

Describing now one example of carrying out my improved process-l' may take heavy crude Mexican petroleim of'say 12 Baume gravity. Thisoil is so sluggish that it will not flow through a pipe line at ordina-ry temperature. This oil may irst be charged into a tank equipped with a closed steam coil, then the oil is heated in this tank to 200 F. 'more or less, until ity is sufficiently limpid to be readly forced through a pump.

This hot viscous oil is then forced by a suitable pump through a regulating valve to a. spray nozzle. From the spray nozzle `the oil is sprayed into a suitable convertor or retort. The oil may be either fdrced through the spray nozzle by itself or may be forced Q35/ viscous hydrocarbons into t .gravity or into hydrocarbons of a thinner).

through in conjunction with a jet of superheated steam.l This convertor or retort may be ofany desired' shape or for example a vertical cylinder, externally hea-ted and partially filled with red hot petroleum coke. The body of this coke in this convertor is preferably of a size that will pass a one inch ring and be retained l a half inch` ring. The coke, which will pass the one half l0 inch ring is removed before the coke is charged into the retort. Theobject of this is to provide a bed of coke containing suitable voids. This retort may be either alcast iron retort or a silica refractory retort.

This retort is provided with a vertically extending duct circumferentially perforated, the perforations are so 'arranged that they slant upwardly and inwardly so as to prevent their 'being clogged. The oil that en- 20 Vters the duct through the perforatios in liquid condition, may be drawn olf at the bottom and the vapors drawn olf at the top or they may be drawn olf through the same out-let. This duct is preferably perforated substantially throughout its entire length. The arrangement is such that the vapors and the oil will liow from the hottest to the coolest part of the retort towa-rd'the take olf duct. As the oil enters the retort it ows into the voids of the coke and lilters through the red hot bed of coke therein f contained. This coke may act as a catalyst removing or destroying the viscous character off the oil and breaking up the heavy ose .of lighter character.

The temperature of the retort will va to some extent with the character of the o1l 40 being treated andthe extent to which it is desired to reduce the viscosity of the oil. I have found that ir treating Mexican oils of the character ,above referred to, a tem rature o f 7504F. to 1300" F. will 4g pro uce J.the desired result. If an excessive temperature is employed it will producel too large a quantity of fixed gases, and in such formation of lighter hydrocarbons as f o'rv 'through the coke withy steam and cont exam le, those of a a'Soline character.' .The oils t us treated wi lI of course to this extent be more valuable.

If the voids in the bed of coke for any reason become choked up, the retort is cleaned, `the coke run through va crusher again and screened to the desired size and then ut back into the retort. The fines may e und fine in a mill and Sold as carbon b k or sold for use as electric arc l carbon. It is to be understood that in carv rying out this invention it will in most cases be very desirable to avoid any -destructive distillation of the ,oilL to the ex- 75 tent of injuring it and rendering it un-y suitable for either refining purposes or for use aspfuel oil.

I claim as my invention:

1. A method of lowering the viscosity of h drocarbon oil consisting in sprayingfthe 011 upon a bed of incandescent Acoke contained in closed .externally heated retorts,

'maintaining the ,coke at 'temperatures regulated to prevent the. formation of any substantial quantity of incondensable gases, withdrawlng they treated oil andproducts of distillation from the coke body by passing it from the hotter to the cooler portions.

2. A process of lessening the viscosity of heavy viscous petroleum oil consisting in spraying the li uid oil in closed retorts externally heat containing a hot bed of petroleum coke, continuously -removing the oil from the hottest portion of theA retort to the coolest portion thereof, to revent the destructive distillation of the oi removin and collecting the treated oil and generatexdlr vapors and regulating the external heat supply to the retortsto maintain the desired conversion conditions.

3. A process of lessening the viscosity of heavy petroleum oil consisting in spraying the oil into closed externally heated retorts containing beds of incandescentl petroleum coke, continuously percolating^the liquicoil in the temperatures to prevent destructi edisgtillation of the oil, and withdrawing .the vapors and 'liquid from'the hotter to the 110 cooler portions of the retorts. Y l

4. A method of lessening the viscosity olfheavy hyd rbons consisting in percolating ,the liqui oil Ithrough coke maintained and externally Yheated in an enclosed retort, 115 withdrawing .the oil from the hotterto the cooler portions of the retort, and`du'ring^V thefreaction maintaining .the oil and coke at temperatlires `to prevent the formation of any considerable quantity of fixed gases.

'HARRY/H. cULMnl-i.v

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